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One Reporter’s Life-Altering Psychedelic Trip

One Reporter’s Life-Altering Psychedelic Trip

The Daily vor 5 Monaten

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41:49

The first time Robert Draper heard about the psychedelic drug
ibogaine, it was from an unlikely source: the retired U.S.
senator Kyrsten Sinema. As a political reporter for The New York
Times, Draper often talks to figures like Ms. Sinema. But on this
occasion, he said, she wanted to tell him about how she had tried
ibogaine, which is illegal in the United States. She’d become
such a believer in the drug that she was pushing her home state
of Arizona to fund clinical trials for veterans with
combat-related trauma.

Draper found that Ms. Sinema wasn’t the only politician to take
up the cause. Rick Perry, the former Texas governor, Republican
presidential candidate and Trump energy secretary, has also
advocated for research into ibogaine in recent years and taken
the drug himself. In 2025, because of Mr. Perry’s efforts, Texas
became the first state to dedicate public funds to ibogaine
research with veterans.

Recent studies of ibogaine at Stanford University and elsewhere
suggest that it might prove effective in treating post-traumatic
stress disorder, traumatic brain injuries, addiction and a range
of other conditions. As Draper reported on ibogaine’s
transformative effects on others, he wondered: Could it help
him, too?

Today, on “The Sunday Daily,” Natalie Kitroeff talks to Robert
Draper about what drew him to travel to Mexico to try ibogaine,
and how his trip changed his life.

On Today’s Episode:

Robert Draper (usually) writes about domestic
politics for The New York Times.

Background Reading:

It’s an Obscure Psychedelic Used to Treat Trauma. Could It Help
Me?

The Long, Strange Trip of Rick Perry

Art Credit: Illustration By Melissa Santamaría

For more information on today’s episode, visit
nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each
episode will be made available by the next workday.

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